What Are Friends For?
by Hawk Strife
Summary: In our future there are Zoids, and one man begins to pilot one. How will he fare in the tournament when his life is in danger, and how will his friends take this kind of thing? (What a load of BullSpit, I really suck on summaries today)Updated to 3!
1. Chapter 1

I was working on a FF7 fic, when I realized that I was being too stupid in it, with all the stupid jokes and crap on it. It should be erased by now, and I will be working on this story for a while instead. I hope you people like it.  
  
Kick it up!  
The Red Raynor Flies  
  
Two large robotic birds flew around the blue sky, with nothing but a vast desert below them. The birds were actually more like robotic pterodactyls, a flying dinosaur. Their wings didn't move and the claws in the middle of the wings were really just for show. The four nozzles on the front of the body of the robot was not for show, they were the main weapons. There were also two separate blasters on the tale of the robots, and not to mention, the large rows of metal teeth just below the cockpit on the head. And last but not least, the last thing that kept the two robots flying around, the large thruster on the back of the large robots, that let them reach speeds the went past the sound barrier.  
  
These two were only a few of the large robots that existed, they were called Zoids. Every Zoid was created in the way that it looked like an animal of some sort, and had what was usually referred to as a soul in it. A Zoid could move some parts on its own, and had a small amount of thought, but it needed a pilot that could bring out its full potential. Zoids were used all over the world in competitions, even anti-terrorism, and of course terrorism itself.  
  
The two Zoids flying at the moment were Raynors, but they were Black and another was Gray, two very rare colors found on Raynors. And to top it off, they were actually in a battle. The Black Raynor and the Gray Raynor started off by flying straight towards each other. But before they hit the Black Raynor suddenly nose-dived and quickly pulled up until it was right behind the Gray Raynor. Once it righted itself it began to fire with the four cannons on its front. The Gray Raynor barrel rolled and began to fire the cannons on its tail towards the Black Raynor. The Black Raynor took a direct hit on the right wing were its claw was, but it was still able to fly. The Gray Raynor suddenly did a complete summersault and was soon right behind the Black Raynor, firing.  
  
The Black Raynor started to swivel to the right and then to the left and then back to the right. It continued to do so while the Gray Raynor fired. Then, the Black Raynor nose-dived again and the Gray Raynor followed behind it. The Gray Raynor continued to follow the Black Raynor until it was hit by something. A stray missile that was dropped from the Black Raynor and hit the Gray Raynor, exploding on impact. The Black Raynor suddenly pulled up and skimmed the desert sands, while the Gray Raynor crashed into the sands and stopped moving. The Black Raynor gave out a shrieking cry and flew away from the fallen foe.  
  
The Gray Raynor's armor was busted completely, there were sparks coming from all sides. And the cockpit glass was cracked too. There was smoke rising from what was left of the thruster on its back. It seemed as if it would not be long before the Raynor would be found and sent to a trash heap, or maybe it would blow up for some reason. But it seemed that someone else would find use for it, and he would show up very soon. ************************************************************************  
  
Rafiq Mandal was your average 22 year old kid, graduating from high school, then enrolling into the airforce, and now a respectable Zoids mechanic and your average pilot for air Zoids as well. He went around finding junked Zoids parts from abandoned Zoids and tried to fix'em up before he would sell them or keep them in stock in case he needed them. He would help out anyone who really needed the help for free if it was necessary, but he always tried to get a little money out of whatever jobs he could find. He only wished he could meet up with some of his old friends, from high school. He'd heard they had become official C ranked Zoid pilots and were on their way to the top. Although they were in different teams, he heard that they continued to keep in touch with each other. Of course he didn't keep in touch with them, he always moved around and never settled in one place, it was impossible to keep in touch with this guy.  
  
At the moment he was driving through the desert in his small red pick up truck. Parts were scattered all over in the back and the front was no better organized either. Rafiq's black hair stood up now, it was kinda short but because of that he was finally able to make it stand up. He did keep long bangs though, they went down past his chin. His brown eyes on the road while his white short-sleeved button-up shirt fluttered around in the wind that came through the open window. His skin used to be a light shade of brown, but now it was very dark, he was under the sun most of the time so he received a pretty intense tan. He was also wearing baggy camouflage pants with gray sneakers.  
  
He was doing his normal runs, looking for any abandoned Zoid, so that he could get parts for the shop he worked in. When he saw the smoke on the horizon. Rafiq quickly gunned his pickup and drove as fast as he could towards the spot where the smoke was originating. It took a little while but he finally made it. He saw the wreckage of the gray Raynor, and the trail in the desert sand that it created during its rough landing. There were also a few parts scattered around the trail and the gray Raynors outer metal was dented. Rafiq was out of his truck as quick as he could go, which resulted in him almost eating a face full of sand, and ran towards the cockpit of the gray Raynor, praying that the Raynor wouldn't suddenly blow up.  
  
Rafiq was able to pry open the cockpit with a loose metal stick he found on the floor. Inside the cockpit he found a pale man in his 50's. He must have had black hair when he was younger but now there was mostly white hair, and the man a small beard of the same color. The man's strong yet labored breathing was all Rafiq needed to get the man out of the cockpit slowly, and once he got the man on a smooth surface he checked to see what was broken. The man had a few broken ribs, his left shoulder was dislocated, and his left arm was also broken. Rafiq hoped that the broken ribs hadn't pierced a lung, but it was a possibility no matter what. There was blood running down the right side of the man's head and his skin felt cold to the touch and continued to get colder, the man didn't have long left but he was fighting in order to stay alive.  
  
Rafiq quickly jumped down from the Raynor and ran to his pickup truck, he quickly picked up a radio mike from the dashboard of the pick up and began to call, trying to sound as calm yet as forceful as possible "Alert! Alert! I got a man in his 50's over in the fifth sector of area C. I need medical back up immediately, I also have what looks like the remnants of a Raynor, please respond!" the mikes speakers began to crackle for a little while before an answer came in. "This is Zoid Tech Mech HQ responding to the Alert. Roger that on the medical team, their on their way with a full set of equipment.you forgot to state what was wrong with the guy" Rafiq slapped his forehead as he realized the mistake he made, but he was glad that the medical team would make it being prepared for anything, the speakers crackled again "Don't worry about it, you usually get through just fine. They'll be there in about 10 minutes. Try to use the First Aid Kit on your truck in order to keep him comfy until they show up.and the Zoids pick up team will be there in about 20 minutes, be ready" Rafiq gave his 10-4's, signed off, and picked up the first aid kit on the back part of his truck.  
  
He was soon running as fast as he could towards the place where the man's body was laying. Rafiq quickly began to fasten the bones with a splinter in order to keep them straight and he placed a cushion softly around the man's ribs. There was nothing Rafiq could do for the man about the shoulder. The man was now awake but it seemed that the crash had made him blind as his eyes were now very white. "Who's there?" the man asked with a raspy voice, Rafiq quickly answered the man "I'm a mechanic at the ZTM, I found your Zoid here and came to help" The man seemed tense before, but now he relaxed and spoke "I see, thank you young man.What has happened to my Zoid?"  
  
Rafiq then looked over at the damage of the gray Raynor, all in all it could have been worse. It seemed that most of the damage was done from the battle not the landing, this man was quite a pilot. "It doesn't seem too bad.I will need to turn off that fire soon though and you'll have to replace the main thruster but the rest is reparable" The man sighed and nodded his head "I see, and I feel that I won't be staying in this world too long, so I must choose another pilot for this Raynos" Rafiq wanted to tell the man that he would be fine and that it would be ok, but he couldn't bring himself to lie to the man. Instead he asked "What do you have in mind for new pilot material?" the old man chuckled and answered "I don't really know, but for now I will choose you, I just hope that it isn't pure luck that we meet but instead fate" Rafiq laughed and waited for the man to go on "I am a pilot for a force called the Sun Wings, a type of clan that fights against the Night and Dark Wings in unsanctioned battles. We fight alongside the Moon Wings, and we search for the Star Wings in hopes of having them join us into combat. We live by staying in the tournament and working until we meet another pilot from the opposing side, then we fight them to the end. We must reach the S class and then we will have a chance to meet the Star Wings, as long as we have impressed them enough."  
  
Rafiq took all this in and could believe it, although just barely. The man laughed again "I see that you have some doubt in you.take the chain around my neck and place it around yours, you will be a Sun Wing pilot as soon as you repair this Raynos" Rafiq bent down and found a thin silver chain around the man's neck that held a pendant at the bottom of it. The pendant was an emblem of a sun with a pair of wings in front. Rafiq then hesitated for a moment but then he put the chain around his neck and waited for the man to answer. "You should make a fine pilot, take what you have learned from before into account and opened your mind so that you can learn even more" The man finished and then closed his eyes. He continued to breath but it slowed down more and more until it stopped completely.  
  
Rafiq took a blanket and covered the man's body with it. The medical team was on time, but they were still too late. They took the man's body into their transporter and went to find a morgue. Rafiq then began to work on taking out the fire inside the gray Raynos, it didn't take long, and soon the Raynos stopped giving out smoke. There was no id on the man, and no way to tell where he was from. Such a pale face hadn't been since in the desert part of the world for some time.  
  
Another large truck came alongside a very large caterpillar-like Zoid.that was a Guymelev. It was a very useful Zoid that was used for transport and for defensive positioning. It usually had a large outer shell that gave it such a good defense, but its wheels were also powerful making it able to transport any Zoid that it wanted to transport on a platform it dragged. After they were all finally able to drag the Raynos onto the platform behind the Guymelev, the Guymelev began to move back towards its HQ in order to look for a way to put it back together and find its new owner.  
  
The guy from the large truck came out of his vehicle and moved towards Rafiq, who was sitting on a small rock near the crash site. "Haven't seen too much action like this, have ya?" the guy asked to which Rafiq nodded. It was a fact that this was the first time he had seen a man die from a Zoid crash. All the other times the pilot had gotten out before, or the pilot was well enough to survive until they reached the hospital. People dying after the Zoid they were piloting crashed or stopped, was a very uncommon spectacle. The cockpit was designed to be able to protect the pilot.unless another force tried to destroy the cockpit itself. This thought came to Rafiq's mind and it would not leave, it was possible that the man was being killed by one of the battles he mentioned a Sun Wing had to fight in. Rafiq picked up the pendant that was now around his neck and took another look at it, the other man also saw the pendant. The other man chuckled suddenly and lightly grabbed Rafiq's arm. "Come on kid, you need to tell me how to fix your new Zoid" Rafiq was soon pushed into his own pickup truck and he began to follow the large truck that belonged to the other man.  
  
After about 15 minutes of driving they could see a wide and flat building over the horizon. This was the ZTM HQ, the best place you could go in order to get your Zoid fixed. They were already working on the gray Raynos by the time both of them got there Rafiq and the other guy parked their trucks and went inside to see how the repairs would go. The other guy began to speak with the person who was leading the repairs while Rafiq himself looked over the gray Raynos. He was then called back by the person leading the repairs, a friend of his named Ana Zennos (I hope to god I spelled that right). She wasn't really Rafiq's friend but that was because Rafiq usually wasn't the social type, while she was usually the social type but not always. She was half brazilian, half Japanese (At least I think so) with black hair and a very light tan on her skin. "You'll need to give me the specifications of this Zoid so I can get it fixed" Ana said suddenly. Rafiq nodded and looked over the Zoid, he liked things fast and very powerful, and that they had a strong color to them too. "I want a new triple propulsion system on the back of the Zoid (3.rockets that will speed up the Zoid for all you people who just don't get it), 7 missile pods on each wing, an updated version of the forward cannons and the tail cannons.hmm" Rafiq continued to give some thought when he realized the Zoid might be too fast "Can you attach some good stabilizers to the edges of each wing?" Rafiq asked to which Ana nodded, and to which he got a good idea "How about adding a pair of blades that will open up past the wings?" Ana quickly exclaimed "That's insane! A flying Zoid can only be piloted by a madman if it were to use any blades!" Rafiq grinned "So what's your point?"  
  
Ana sighed and nodded her head and asked "What type of missiles do you want on it right now and what color will it be?" Rafiq looked over the Raynos and answered "Give me some concussion missiles (I am pretty sure these are the ones that split into many other missiles when fired) and make the color..Red.like blood red" Ana jotted down a few notes and got straight to work on giving out orders for the new Zoid. Rafiq chuckled never thinking that she would ever be in a place like this.she was one of those smart girls that you met in middle school. She would be the one with the best grades, she would always know what she was talking about. And now she was a mechanic, even though she was the number one mechanic it was still a mechanic. Although it did pay pretty good.  
  
The gray Raynos was suddenly pulled into another floor above it, and Rafiq was given orders to report to his superior. Rafiq ran up the stairs towards the office of his boss. Rafiq dusted himself off and opened the door. His boss was an old man in his 80's who seemed to exaggerate everything that Rafiq had come across. The old man was now looking out his window and checking the vast desert when Rafiq entered. The old man was a true nature lover, to which Rafiq respected as he held much respect towards nature as well. "It's about time you showed up, I've heard that the Zoid we have now belongs to you" Rafiq nodded his head and waited for the old man to continue "I'll be paying for the expenses that you've created but I want you to get out of my sight on that Zoid" The old man was a good person usually but he always had something against Rafiq. Maybe it was the name, or that Rafiq was in the air-force in the past, or just simply that this man was a racist. But one thing was clear.by morning Rafiq would be either leaving the ZTM workshop peacefully or he would be kicked out with the Zoid.  
  
Rafiq left the office without so much as a nod or a thank you. He was tired of the old man, and he wouldn't give the guy too much satisfaction. Rafiq went down to the floor where the Raynos once was, then Ana ran up to him and bent over in order to take in a few breaths. "I.I.need.the.name.of your..Zoid" Ana looked like she was about to faint while she said that but Rafiq nodded. After taking her to a place to sit down he gave the question some thought. He couldn't think of anything that would make sense so he simply said "Keep it simple, name it Red" Ana nodded and jotted down the name, she then walked over to the elevator that would take her back to the Zoid under repair.  
  
Rafiq went over to a different elevator, one that went below the surface in order to find his room and start packing. All he had was maybe one suitcase worth of stuff.some books, clothes, one jumpsuit, and one helmet. Rafiq decided to change the jumpsuit a bit, since he would be wearing it on the Raynos. Rafiq was able to lighten the color on the jumpsuit so that it fitted in with the desert color. Rafiq then looked over the jump suit, he found a few medals attached. The one he was proud of was his first, the ace wings. One that he could get for shooting down 5 planes at least, and they weren't easy shots either. But Rafiq got his ace wings on his second mission while he was in the air-force, he was told that the kill record he held was a very good one, but he never really wanted to know. Rafiq then folded the jumpsuit up and went to bed after making sure that his duffel back was filled with the rest of the stuff. He soon fell asleep wondering what would happen in the future now that he had a Zoid to pilot.  
  
Rafiq woke up the next day bright and early, he then took a quick shower and put on his jumpsuit and held his helmet in one hand. He then went over to the spot where the new Zoid would be placed and saw one of the greatest Zoids he'd ever seen. "Yeah I think we overdid it too" a voice said suddenly from his left. Rafiq jumped away from the voice in surprise and saw that it was Ana. Rafiq sighed and nodded "I'm happy anyways, this is the best Zoid I've ever seen" Ana nodded and then stood straight and gave a salute "Red is prepped up and good to go, SIR!" Rafiq sighed again and gave Ana an irritated look "That's not funny" Ana nodded but had a smile plastered to her face. Rafiq chuckled and went over to the Zoid, he then knocked on the window of the cockpit when he reached it, the Zoid gave a small roar and moved. "Good morning! My names Rafiq, we're partners now, although I didn't choose and you didn't either, but we better make the best of it, right?" the Raynos nodded and gave another roar, then the cockpit opened.  
  
Rafiq quickly jumped into the cockpit and looked over the controls, he quickly remembered the basics to controlling an airborne Zoid. After he checked and double checked everything, he put on his helmet and started to walk the Raynos towards the exit. He continued to move it on towards the exit and hoped that there was a launch pad somewhere. Soon enough though, Red was on a launch pad and was crouching down in order to prepare to take off. A voice suddenly crackled into the cockpit "Red Raynos will be launched in 5..4..3..2..1..Launch!" The Red Raynos suddenly lurched forward and sent Rafiq into the back of the seat from the sudden shock. Red was soon in the air but the propulsion still wasn't on, Rafiq turned it on when he was able to however, and the propulsion system kicked in. Rafiq was ready for this and got speeds way past the Sound barrier. He could see that the best speed would probably be Mach 3 but it was still a good speed. Rafiq piloted the Raynos around until he got a feel for it then he went began his journey towards the capital so that he could sign up for the Zoids tournament.  
  
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Not bad Right?.Right?.Hello? Now I know I don't deserve that, so if you could, read and Review.and that includes EVERYBODY. See you in the next chapter which should be done pretty soon. 


	2. Chapter 2

Ok so second chapter is now coming up. There will be a few new characters in this one. And there will also be one or two battles, since I am making this up as I go. Hope this chapter goes well.  
  
Action!  
Remembering Old Friends  
  
A customized red Raynos now flew the skies, with a pilot inside searching for a city. He was happy to be flying around mountains and ravines. And to skim the desert a mere 7 cm from the bottom, and to break past the sound barrier and straight to mach 2. Yes, he was quite happy, and yes..Rafiq Mandal was now completely lost.  
  
It was a trade mark of his, he would show off when he didn't know which way to go, and he would hope that it would affect his direction somehow. It was quite embarrassing when he traveled in another group since they had no idea what he was doing and since they were following him. Rafiq was lucky enough however to spot something over the horizon. An explosion that was on top of an elevated plane. The plane must have been 150 ft above the ground and there were two Zoids battling it out on top of the plane, and there was no judge in sight. This was an unsanctioned match.  
  
One of the Zoids was a dinosaur type Zoid. Namely, it looked like a veloci- raptor, a reptile with two long legs, and short arms. There was one claw on each limb that was exceedingly larger than the others, there were two very large rows of teeth in its mouth, a long and jagged tail that was running all the way to the spine, and a long snout where the cockpit was placed. It was called the Gun-Sniper, for the obvious ability to shoot down its enemies from far distances. That ability was hard to master and most people who owned a Gun-Sniper modified it to their own tastes. This one was no different, it was modified for speed which partnered up with its hit'n'run style . It had one turbo booster pack attached to each leg, they had only one medium sized nozzle. There were also two blades attached to the short arms along with two small guns attached to the wrists. The armor was also slightly tougher, yet it didn't deny the pilot the speed that he or she desired and it was colored beige in order to match the desert sands. Rafiq guessed it was a light coating of Titanium, if it was used correctly it could be as light as a feather and still hard to get through.  
  
The other Zoid was a panther like Zoid, this one was well known and was usually referred to as either a Lightning Sykes or simply a Strykes. They were both the same style and were pretty much panthers, but the Lightning Sykes were built for speed and could only be modified in that way, while the Strykes were used for heavy arsenal equipment only, and maybe a few booster packs that would let it slide in any direction quickly. This was a Strykes, the color black with a protective covering over most of the cockpit that made it look like it had eyes. There were two missile packs on the two front shoulders of the Strykes, they each had 8 slots in them for missiles. There was also a mini-gatling gun on the side of each leg that could spin around in order to shoot towards the front or the back. There was also a shot cannon with three nozzles placed on the belly of the beast. Each of these weapons had a way of being jettisoned if it became necessary. There was also one last customization placed on this Strykes, a pair of omni directional boosters embedded into the sides of the beast where the ribs would usually be. With it being omni-directional, it meant that they could fire boosters into any direction and push the beast into the other direction, it could be any direction it wanted.  
  
Both Zoids were staring at each other and there was one large and black crater in the center of the battle field. In fact, there were many other black craters, some small and others not so small. This one here had been made by the Strykes since its weaponry had smoke coming from the exit points. Then, the Gun-Sniper charged forward suddenly but it was not using its boosters, until it closed in. The Gun-Sniper suddenly used its boosters in order to charged straight into the Strykes. The Strykes was unable to dodge since it wasn't expected, and it fell on its right. But it fired its two left gatling guns towards the opponent, the stray fire shot off the right arm of the Gun-sniper along with its blade and wrist guns.  
  
After that, the Gun-Sniper began to back away, letting the Strykes get back on its four feet. The Gun-Sniper then charged once more using its boosters at full power. The Strykes suddenly disappeared and reappeared 50 meters to the left. It had used the booster on its right side to push it to the left, and the Gun-Sniper hadn't been able to realize it quick enough, so it crashed into the ground. At that moment the Strykes began to fire all of its weaponry, except for the two mini-gatling guns on its right since they were crushed when the Strykes fell. There was nothing but a large dust cloud in the spot where the Gun-Sniper had been, then there was gun fire coming from the dust cloud, and out of it followed the Gun-Sniper. Its armor was torn in many different places and its tail was almost completely gone, that kind of damage should have made the system freeze by now.  
  
The Strykes then charged forward, and the Gun-Sniper used its boosters to dodge and move around until it was right behind the Strykes. It then took out its right blade and charged, while the Strykes suddenly jettisoned all of its weaponry and disappeared. And reappeared 100 feet in the air. Then it began to fall and out came one blade on its left side that pointed towards its front and a much smaller blade on the tail. It landed no more than a few feet from the Gun-Sniper, then it charged forward suddenly, and let the blade run through the chest of the Gun-Sniper. The Strykes then moved back and let the Gun-Sniper fall. Rafiq then decided it was time to make an appearance.  
  
Rafiq landed near the Strykes unit but not too close so that he wouldn't be attacked suddenly. "This battle was an unsanctioned battle, you should have just continued on" a voice said through Rafiq's radio, while Rafiq nodded and picked up the mike "Well I would have, but I'm lost at the moment and I need to find a way to get to..Green Rock, can you help me out?" The Strykes unit suddenly shook its head in an exasperated form. "Sure no problem, I'll get you there" the voice answered and the Strykes unit began to run in a certain direction, leaving its weapons and the downed Gun-Sniper. Rafiq quickly hit his thrusters and caught up with the Strykes while they headed in that direction. After a half hour of moving quickly they could begin to see a large Green Rock in the distance, and then they could see a large city bustling down below.  
  
Green Rock was really a sort of tourist attraction with: one the Green Rock, and two the pool of incredibly clean water on the bottom of it. It became such a bustling city that they even had a hangar for Zoids with no team or other means of transportation. Rafiq rented on of the hangar entryways and flew Red into it. He then gave his thanks to the pilot of the Strykes unit. The pilot gave no reply but he went in another direction that went towards a different hangar with Guymelevs and Hovercargoes. Rafiq guessed that the Strykes belonged to another team, but it didn't explain why it was out on an unsanctioned match.  
  
Rafiq was called back to reality when his cockpit opened and he looked outside. There was someone there asking if Rafiq needed anything to checkup on the Red. Rafiq shook his head and asked if they could check the thrusters for anything that could be damaging it and to clean out the sand. Rafiq paid the man and got down from Red, he looked up at Red and nodded his head. He had his duffel bag around his shoulder and his jumpsuit was beginning to stick to his skin from all the sweat. He would need to find clothing that would always breath and help him cool down. He would also have to ask to fix the air conditioning on the machine later on, but for now he had to change and use what money he had left to shower and get some food, and granted he didn't have that much money left.  
  
He was able to pay for a room so that he could change and shower, but he wasn't sure that he could pay for any food, and he was starving. He started to walk forward until he came across a place where a large number of people were crowding around something that was going on, Rafiq did his best to get through the crowd and eventually saw that there was a fight going on. It was actually a three-on-one fight where three guys from the police force were beating up fourth guy with black hair and all black clothing. Rafiq was thoroughly pissed-off and he ran forward. There was only one guy punching the black haired guy while the other two held the black haired guy in one place. Rafiq decided to knock out the guy punching, which he did with a strong left upper-cut. The guys jaw was now broken, Rafiq then decided to actually get the black haired guy to help him out as well.  
  
Rafiq soon gave a gut punch to the person on the black haired guy's right, the black haired guy simply took his free hand and punched the man hanging on to him on his left. Rafiq and the guy were now fighting two-on-two with the officials. "Now your gonna get it, we're trained to fight better than anyone else alive" one of the officials said while laughing. Rafiq smirked "Too bad, now your reputation has to go another step lower" Rafiq said just before he charged along with the other guy. The officials were about to charge when a police whistle called them off.  
  
There was a break in the crowd and an older man in his 70's came out with a serious look. The two officials were immediately at attention while the third was doing his best to stay awake. The older official nodded towards the two officers and then walked towards Rafiq, he then pulled his right fist back and made a move to punch Rafiq. Rafiq quickly grabbed the hand that was going to punch him and he pushed it back with a lot of anger, Rafiq would always try to follow the rules, but he was never a pushover. The older man backed off, he would have gone to punch the other guy but there was a look on Rafiq's face that stopped him, the four officials then left that spot, the injured one being carried by the other two.  
  
The crowd then began to disperse, and the other guy fell to the ground and began to pant. Rafiq bent down and held out his hand, the other guy looked at it and then smirked while he grabbed it. Rafiq then lifted the other guy up and they both went to the nearest restaurant in the neighborhood. Rafiq was in for a surprise when he asked the guy what his name was, he was Carlos E. Cortez an old friend of Rafiq's from high school. Carlos was surprised too, he hadn't heard from Rafiq since they both graduated. Carlos was now a full-fledged Zoid pilot and was in the Zoids overall tournament. He went to college in order to get a degree on his ability to use computers, then he joined up with a team and became a pilot and the tactical manager of the team. Carlos was the same person that helped Rafiq out in the desert after the unsanctioned match, he was the pilot of the Strykes.  
  
"So who are the other members of your team?" Rafiq asked while he ate a fork spun completely with spaghetti. Carlos took a puff of his cigarette and replied "You'll find out, right now you don't need to know" Carlos was usually what you'd call a dark person. He was usually down on life unless someone was there to help him out, which there usually was someone there to help him out all the time. Rafiq guessed that he started smoking during college and he hoped that Carlos would quit when the right time came. He wore black military boots, black jeans, a black shirt, and to top it all of, a black over-coat. His hair was short and every strand stood up. He also had contacts now but he put on sunglasses any way just for effect. "Don't you burn up in those clothes, I sure would" Carlos shook his head "Nah, the sun doesn't bother me much, and besides that my Strykes does have air-conditioning" Rafiq nodded to that as he replied "Every bit more than what I could ever have"  
  
Carlos nodded with a smile on his face, it quickly turned into a frown as he heard a female voice yell out. "Carlos, just where the hell have you been!?" it was a girl about the same age as both of them, she had black hair and a few freckles (Mostly around her nose). Her hair was pulled back into a shabby looking ponytail but a ponytail nonetheless. She wore black high-heel boots along with blue boot-legged jeans. She also had a white vest over her gray T-shirt. She walked over to where Carlos was now standing, Carlos trying to grin while a cigarette was still stuck in his mouth. The girl came over glowered and took the cigarette and threw it to the floor. After stepping on it he stood in front of Carlos, at that point it was obvious the girl was embarrassed about her height.  
  
Carlos wasn't exactly the tallest guy in the world and he wasn't short either, he was what you'd call average. This girl was only Carlos's height but that was when she wore the high-heel boots. "And just who the hell is this!?" she suddenly exclaimed while pointing towards Carlos's companion. "I know who that is" another girl suddenly said as she ran towards Rafiq and Carlos. She stopped right in front of Rafiq and looked him over. It took a while to notice but he saw the two girls were sisters, twin sisters to be more specific. At that moment Rafiq came across an old memory and realized who they were. "Elizabeth and Marie Calbert-Kilbane, (I may have spelled that wrong, sorry) wow its been a long time" Marie was the one currently beating Carlos up while Elizabeth was the one who knew Rafiq. Elizabeth, thankfully wore something different than Marie. She wore a black vest, with a white shirt under it, green tight shorts that stopped mid- shin, and sandals.of all things.  
  
Elizabeth smiled softly "So it is you, how have you been Rafiq, we haven't heard from you for so long" she asked to which Rafiq laughed and nodded "Yeah, well I've been in the ZTM for a while, but before that was the Air Force" Marie finally finished beating up Carlos and asked "So you became a pilot after all" Rafiq nodded with an expression of confusion on his face. "Yeah but I don't remember ever telling you per se" Rafiq answered to which Marie went "Yeah I heard from Eli" Rafiq nodded. "So you three are a team" they all nodded and Carlos answered "Yup we're the Claw team" Rafiq nodded his head.  
  
He then followed Carlos, Elizabeth and Marie to the spot where they had all of their Zoids put up. Carlos's Strykes unit was up there now equipped with all of its original weapons back in place. Elizabeth's Zoid was a yellow Tiger. Pretty much the complete features of a tiger in a robotic form, up to the nose as a black triangle. It also had long claws that would look like a regular tigers claw. The only things that made it different than a real tiger, other than the weapons, was the two large teeth that were found coming out of the mouth, and the fact that there were no stripes it was just completely yellow, except for the teeth, claws, and black eyes (The cockpit with an outer covering). Now the weapons it held were simple, one 3 nozzle shot cannon on the belly of the Tiger and one large long-rage firing cannon on its back. Rafiq had to admit that it was a good strategy for a Tiger, since it really wasn't a very good Zoid. The Tiger was a slow accelerator and didn't have very good reactions. It's defense also needed work, but it was very good at attacking with its claws and teeth. If an opponent was ever caught in the teeth or the claws of a tiger, that match would be over in the next few minutes. The Tiger was so strong with its teeth and claws that it could snap a completely armored Elephantos's trunk in two. Of course, the Tiger would have to be able to get to that specific spot fast enough in order to attack, which it really can't. With the long range cannon, it could create cover fire from a very safe distance, while the other two fighters can attack the opponent. And not only that, it was light-weight so it wouldn't be difficult for the Tiger to use physical attacks, although it would still be a little bit heavy because of its size.  
  
Marie's Zoid was simply a dark green Lightning Sykes. It had 2 small boosters on its back and retractable stabilizers on the bottom. The Lightning Sykes head and neck were sleeker than that of the Strykes. Its paws had long claws and there was one light-weight double cannon on its back just in front of the two boosters. Rafiq began to wonder how the Lightning Sykes could go so fast when he remembered that the Lightning Sykes had a special tank inside of it, made only for a special type of synthesized nitrogen. The mini boosters could be used to give it another jolt of speed.  
  
"So how do they look?" Elizabeth asked as she saw Rafiq staring at each of the Zoids "They're well done, and they look like they've seen some action, what rank are you on?" Marie came forward with an answer "We're still in C rank but were pretty close to B and once we change we'll be able to try to work for A rank and finally S rank" Rafiq nodded. "You're on your way" he said and then he turned around and began to walk out "We could use another teammate" Rafiq turned around to see who said that, it was Elizabeth. "Our battles keep getting difficult all the time and we would really like someone else to help" this time it was Carlos who spoke. Rafiq didn't really know what to say, he wanted to join the tournament, but to be pushed into even something like C rank was hard for him, since he didn't know too much about Zoid battling.  
  
Rafiq finally shook his head "I don't think I'd be very helpful, maybe in the future, or maybe when I've proven myself then I'll join" Rafiq then turned and kept walking on until he reached his hangar and his Zoid. Once he checked everything he got into his Zoid and noticed a Hovercargo in the shape of a Blue Snail crawling through the desert. He chuckled and launched his Zoid, Red flew into the air and went towards the direction the Hovercargo was heading but he decided to take it slow. He was just about to speed up when he noticed 4 small specs in the distance, and that the Hovercargo had stopped moving. Out in the distance there were 4 Gun-Snipers like the one that Carlos fought in an unsanctioned battle. They were spread out and seemed to be held back by an order of some kind. Rafiq switched on his radio and turned the channels for a little while until he got a reading "-e are v-y angry and w-ll not give in to your crazy battles with -r group, the Raptor Clan will destr-y you completely you cannot escape.men Attack!"  
  
At that moment the 4 Gun-Snipers sprinted towards the Hovercargo. The Hovercargo was still not ready, they only had time to launch Carlos, while Marie was being launched at that moment. Carlos quickly sprinted forward with his Strykes and began to fire homing missiles on the Gun-Snipers. They all hit but they didn't do too much damage. Marie quickly made her Lightning Sykes run forward and used her double cannon to fire on two of the four oncoming Gun-Snipers. At that moment Elizabeth launched and was soon in the middle of a heated battle, all she could do at the moment was run but one of the Gun-Snipers pinned her down and was about to give a finishing blow.when it was thrown off by an explosion of sound.  
  
Rafiq decided that it was time to speed up and get to that location as quick as possible. The Red Raynos went past the two Zoids at a speed faster than sound and created the Sonic Boom. Rafiq the pulled Red towards the Gun- Sniper and began to fire on it. Elizabeth quickly moved her Zoid towards a plateau and began to climb it from the bottom. Rafiq quickly pulled up and launched 2 concussion missiles towards the Gun-Sniper, they all hit and the Gun-Sniper fell to the ground with major dents and a system's freeze. Carlos was doing fine handling only one of the Gun-Snipers but Marie couldn't a shot so all she could do was run around and hope for a lucky shot. Elizabeth finally made to the top and stood at the edge, she then fired her cannon towards the two Gun-Snipers against Marie.  
  
To Rafiq's surprise they both hit the Gun-Snipers, and when she fired again she hit them.in the exact same location as before. Rafiq quickly sped up in order to help Carlos out in case he needed it, when there was an explosion near his Raynos. Rafiq pulled up and began to circle around looking for whatever sent the explosion. He then saw it, a gray robot that looked much like the Raynos but it was a simpler form, it was a Pteras. They were usually for transports and sometimes they were used for land fire. However in this case it did not matter, a Pteras in the hands of any pilot was no match for a Raynos. Rafiq quickly opened fire with 4 concussion missiles, the Pteras could not possibly escape that attack, yet it only stood still as the onslaught of 4 concussion missiles (28 regular missiles) came. Something then launched from the Pteras and the 4 concussion missiles went towards it, missing the Pteras by a few feet.  
  
Decoys. Something found in Zoids of the rich. Not even his Raynos had that, even though it would have been nice. The Pteras then began to dive, and the Raynos followed. Elizabeth saw the Pteras and it was heading straight towards her. She began to fire while the Pteras simply dodged. Rafiq quickly put Red on full power and flew past the Pteras. He then made a 180 spin by turn his thrusters off suddenly, pulling on the control stick and then hitting the thrusters once again. Rafiq then headed straight towards the Pteras. The Pteras flew towards the Raynos at full speed while the Raynos flew at mid speed, which was still very fast. Then when the two were about to crash, Rafiq pulled the Raynos out, but he also pull out the blades that were hiding in the wings.  
  
The Pteras was cut in half and fell crashing into the ground near Elizabeth's position. Elizabeth continued to fire on the Gun-Snipers that Marie was fighting. Carlos had already finished fighting with his Gun- Sniper and was helping Marie. Rafiq fired the rest of his concussion missiles on the Gun-Snipers.  
  
After that The Hovercargo was filled with one new Zoid that was in need of another tune up. Rafiq was in the living room with everyone else: Carlos, Marie, Elizabeth, and surprisingly Marie's and Elizabeth's older sister, Ana. They were all talking about the incredible battle that they had just gone through, before Carlos asked Rafiq "Ok so, you proved yourself yet, can you join us?" Rafiq laughed but noticed that Marie, Elizabeth, and Ana were waiting for his answer. "Yeah sure, why not, I want to go into S rank see what its all about, maybe I can do that with you guys" Rafiq answered with a smile, while everyone else gave a whoop of celebration. "This'll be great, S rank here we come!!!" Carlos said. Rafiq laughed, as they both began to talk about what their futures would be like after they made it to S rank.  
  
I don't think it was too bad. Nope not at all. I think it was pretty damn good, considering I did it all in one day. Ok then so I finally entered some new characters, I am adding a hell of a lot of detail. I think everything is going according to plan.I guess. Well the next one won't be out for a while, be seeing ya.Oh and I almost forgot, please REVIEW!!!!!!!! 


	3. Chapter 3

Stupid Hacker!  
The Electrical Surge  
  
After joining up with the Claw team, the next destination chosen was set…Red Lake city. That spot had possibly the best variety of spare Zoid parts, but also a large variety of thieves, mercenaries and hackers. Once the group reached Red Lake city, Rafiq was thrown out in order to buy a large amount of supplies for the team, most of them were for his Raynos. He would need spare ammunition and weapons for any future battles, and his friends would need to improve their own Zoids for the next battles. Rafiq looked around to see the run-down buildings all around, the walls were crumbling and most of the windows were broken.  
  
Rafiq shook his head as he continued his search for a shop that seemed to be good enough for the parts and ammunition he would need. After asking a few stoned pedestrians, he was finally able to find a suitable shop. Once inside he went straight towards the cashier and gave the old man a list of all the things Rafiq wanted to buy. The old man took a look at the list and then went to the back of the shop to look for the things on the list, wondering if he had all of those things. Rafiq leaned against the counter and looked around noticing all of the rare parts that were hanging around the walls and rails all over the shop.  
  
He was thinking about how useful the parts would be, when a band of thugs suddenly came through the door, guns out and all looking more than a little high. Rafiq's eyes widened as he suddenly moved towards the back of the shop in order to hide from them, it wasn't like he could fight back against guns when he wasn't even armed. The thugs spread out picking things up while three of them went over to the counter guns pointing towards the doorway. When the old man came back he saw the guns and froze. "Give me all the money, and pack up the rarest parts you have!" one of the thugs suddenly yelled at the old man.  
  
Rafiq wondered what he could do when he saw a steel bar laying on the floor, he slowly picked it up and sneaked behind the three thugs. He kept an eye on the other thugs as well and was able to get behind those in front of the counter unseen. He then pulled the steel bar back and gave three strong swings knocking the three thugs out. Unfortunately, the rest of them heard the groans and looked over to see Rafiq with a steel bar and a sheepish grin, he then jumped over the counter and followed the old man running towards, what Rafiq hoped was an exit. They soon reached outside and met up with the rest of the gang, who were just waiting in their jeeps with weaponry that wasn't allowed in the military.  
  
Rafiq quickly grabbed the old man, and proceeded to sprint in the other direction. It wasn't long before the gang was following them on the jeeps, thus they were catching up fast. "Damn it! I'm never shopping for these people AGAIN!!!!" Rafiq yelled as he continued to sprint as fast as he could while hanging on to the old man. Rafiq promptly dropped the old man off at a discrete location (So discrete…it made the author not care) and then he ran away as fast as he could from the gang members. Rafiq could be seen running all over town, until he finally came to the Hovercargo. He didn't notice that he was the only one inside the hover cargo, save for Ana. He then began to program the guns.  
  
The gang members were about to get closer when the laser guns on the hover cargo began to fire and blow their jeeps to smithereens. The gang members were all fleeing from the wreckage that resulted from the laser guns on the hover cargo. Rafiq was now on the floor, gasping for breath and sweating bullets. Carlos and the twins decided to show up at that moment. "Oh hi there!" Marie said suddenly "We forgot to mention that you would probably be followed by a group of hoodlums, but that's ok since you were the decoy, that let us get our stuff"  
  
Marie would have said more but then she saw Rafiq's face….she disappeared in a flash, Carlos and Eli reacted similarly but they weren't able to get away. The door was locked and shouts for help were followed by the sounds of severe beatings, not too mention some screams. Rafiq was soon outside with a satisfied smirk on his face, while the two deformed bodies of Elizabeth and Carlos could be seen in the room. Rafiq then decided to go and look at the things that were bought thanks to his sacrifice.  
  
All he needed to do was look over the registry of the hover cargo in order to see what was placed recently. Everything was pretty close to normal, other than a few extra items, and a small antique. The antique seemed to be an old radio and was placed in the kitchen, it wouldn't work, but it did add a touch of homeliness to the place. After that event, everyone was pretty much bushed and went straight to sleep. During the night, however, a few sparks could be seen coming from the kitchen.  
  
Elizabeth was the first to wake up, shower, and then change. She then decided to go to the kitchen and prepare a breakfast for everyone living in the hover cargo (I gotta make a name for this). Soon after she entered, a scream could be heard throughout the hover cargo. Everyone was soon up and running towards the kitchen in order to see what was going on. They were surprised the minute they got into the kitchen, to see a surprised Eli on the floor, and all the things in the kitchen going insane. The radio was the only thing that seemed normal except for the few sparks that came from the inside.  
  
Rafiq and Carlos quickly ran in to try and turn off all of the equipment that was going haywire. After nearly getting their arms cut off by a few cutters and knives. 15 minutes after, the kitchen was under control. But right after, the phone rang, giving everyone a jump in their heartbeats. Rafiq slowly picked it up "….Hello?" "Like my little surprise" A badly done dark voice said "Well there's more where tha-" "Miguel, is that you?" Rafiq said suddenly with a disbelieving look on his face, the voice on the phone reacted immediately. "What!? Uh..eh…..oh Shoot!!!!!………………….......(Bad impersonation of the AT&T woman giving a message" Thank you for calling AT&T we regret to in-beep beep beep"  
  
Rafiq hung up the phone and then looked over the kitchen, the only thing that caught his attention was the old radio. "Carlos do you know some stuff about radios like this one" When Carlos nodded, Rafiq carefully opened the Radio box. "Anything out of the ordinary in this one?" Carlos began to look over the radio. Then he picked something up "This is an interesting gadget, a transmitter but for a different type of radio wave" Rafiq picked it up and looked it over, it looked like a regular antenna, only it had a kind of base and it was blinking. There was a serial number on the bottom, Rafiq quickly went to the phone and dialed in, "ZTM? Yeah I'm calling about this transmitter I've got, I need to find the source of the radio waves going towards it…..yeah….the serial number is 7122311ESTR…right….our present location is Red Lake City, SE by 43 degrees, on the Gamma sector…….hmm yeah I'll hold……..got it thanks"  
  
Rafiq hung up the phone and then looked over at the group sitting by the table. "The person who got this is in another hangar near us, Carlos come with me" The two were outside of the hangar in a flash, looking around for the culprit, who Rafiq had an idea on who it was. "I swear if it's Miguel, I swear…" They soon came across an older hangar, it was unused and in need of desperate repair. The only thing inside of it was an old Guymelev, with something in the back that was covered by a large cloth.  
  
Rafiq wanted to check it out, but a light from a corner of the extremely dark room and a couple of echoed footsteps stopped him. He knew that the footsteps did not belong to him nor Carlos, and Carlos knew it too. Rafiq then whispered "We'll go around and trap this guy in, be as quiet as possible". Carlos nodded and then they both began to walk on opposite sides of the Guymelev while they headed towards the back where the sounds and the light was coming from. They soon reached a computer at the end of the hangar…and a tape recorder that played the sounds of footsteps. Rafiq shook his head as he found the dead end, he wondered how he would find this guy now.  
  
At that moment, the thing atop of the Guymelev shook slightly. Rafiq noticed, and so did Carlos. They both began to slowly walk away from the large moving figure under the cloth. It suddenly roared, and shook the cloth off. It was a blade Liger, a black one that could be commonly seen in many zoid teams. Although this one had two boosters on its legs as an enhancement. Along with a small single nozzled cannon on it's back.  
  
The Liger looked behind to see both Rafiq and Carlos begin to run away from the now dangerous Zoid. It roared again and jumped away from the Gymelev, it then ran away from the hangar and kept running in order to get out of the town. Rafiq wouldn't let it, as he picked up a shocked Carlos and called the Hovercargo. Rafiq and Carlos were able to meet up with the Hovercargo as it left its hangar. The black Liger was deep in the desert by the time they left town. "I can reach him pretty quick, then I'll slow him down" "Why are we chasing after him?" Carlos asked as he prepared his Strykes. Rafiq smirked "Because I'm sure blackmail will help this hacker see the light…and help our team out" "Right" Carlos said as he shook his head with a smile.  
  
"Red Raynos! Cleared for launch!" "Roger, here I go!" The red raynos took off from the hover cargo and immediately sped up in order to reach the black blade Liger. "Hey! Stop Hacker!" There was no response to Rafiq's yell as the black speck became larger and larger to show the black Blade-Liger still running away. It wasn't too long before the Blade-Liger suddenly turned around and fired its cannon towards the Raynos. Although the move had caught Rafiq off-guard, the shots were off target and Rafiq didn't need to move to dodge them.  
  
"Amateur" Rafiq whispered as he quickly got his Raynos to speed up. Rafiq began to circle around the Black Blade-Liger when a large amount of missiles fell down upon the Liger. Rafiq could see that Carlos's Strykes unit was finally in place. "Would you give it up already?" Rafiq called through the radio again. "All right! All right! I give!" Rafiq smirked as they continued to wait for the Hovercargo. "What are you going to do to me?" "Oh…we'll think of something" Was Carlos's response to the Hackers question.  
  
When the Hovercargo arrived, it shot a net that completely covered the Black Liger. This allowed the two other units to come inside of the Hovercargo without having to worry about anything. When Rafiq and Carlos went back out, they saw that the pilot of the Black Blade Liger was standing there outside of its Zoid, looking pretty distraught at the machine that was now covered in a big steel net.  
  
Rafiq could see the Hacker pretty well now, and he could remember him. Carlos recognized him too "You spineless,cowardly, inconsiderate…" He began as he stalked towards their past friend. The hacker had extremely short hair, but a fair complection. His skin seemed light considering the sun. As for his attire, he was wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and grey shoes. He also had a jean jacket tied around his waist, and a pair of sunglasses on his face.  
  
He seemed to realize who the other two were as well. "Hey! Rafiq and Carlos! Man it's been a-ack!" Carlos was now strangling the poor companion. Rafiq was able to make peace between the two of them. Then, he turned to the Hacker and smirked "Miguel Angel Riego, I never thought I'd meet you like this" "Yeah tell me about it."  
  
"Well, it doesn't matter, come on inside, you have some fixing to do" Rafiq smirked as he put his arm around his friends shoulder. "And then you'll let me go, right amigo?" "No, not really, you see…we just earned a new strategist" "What!?" Miguel's face was in complete surprise as they walked to the Hovercargo. "I always said that hacking was gonna let me blackmail you, and when that chance came, I was going to take it." Rafiq then laughed the rest of the way to the Hovercargo, while Carlos merely kept pushing Miguel towards it. Things had gotten interesting for the Claw Team, and they would get even more in the next location.  
  
So how's that. Pretty lame for a long time in waiting, but I've been in trouble and in serious writers block. I think I'm getting over it now, and it shouldn't be long before I make the next chapter. But don't quote me on that. Anyhow, please review.  
C ya Hawk Strife 


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